About Our Courses & Workshops

LAPDA offers a wide variety of workshops and graduate courses each year based on the needs of our member districts and those seeking professional development in the field of education.

Specific workshop or course requests come primarily through our LAPDA Advisory Council, (a group of curriculum directors from our member districts) which meets on a monthly basis. Additional requests for training may come from our school superintendents who serve on the LAPDA Board of Directors or from the Vermont Agency of Education via grant proposals or contracts (RFP).

Every few years we conduct a regional “needs assessment” through survey monkey to solicit perceived trainings needs from the field at large. This gives individual teachers and local school administrators the opportunity to tell us what they would like to see us offer for training.

All course or workshop participants are also asked to identify their perceived training needs as part of our evaluation process that we utilize with all the professional development that we offer.

Fees for Courses

Our course offerings are market-driven based primarily on the expressed needs of our regional members. Fees are based on the actual costs of instructors, materials and administrative/overhead costs.

We keep our fees low by keeping our overhead low. This allows us to offer high quality professional learning at a considerably lower price than institutions of higher learning are able to charge.

Most multi-day LAPDA professional development can be accessed at rates that range from $750-$1000. The additional cost for 3 graduate credits is typically $400, dependent on which partner institution is awarding the credits.

Fees for single and multiple day workshops are based on the acknowledged expertise of the presenter, anticipated enrollment and LAPDA administrative and overhead costs.

Typically, workshop fees are $150-$350.

What People Are Saying About LAPDA COURSES

Framework Based Professional Support & Supervision\Evaluation – Marty Sorrell Lacasse

"This class makes you reflect on your practice as a teacher, this reflection is deep and is the best way to improve your practice."

Leah Bronner

Vocabulary Instruction: Using Technology to Make it Intentional and Doable with Lorraine Morris & Karen Heath

"The most important outcome of this course was gaining knowledge of google docs, slides and forms, gaining more knowledge in vocab instruction and bringing the two subjects together. I also walked away with lessons to use in class."

"This class has made me think of teaching writing in a whole new light. I have shifted my thinking from teaching writing genres and the writing process to one of teaching writers. This is so powerful, I think it will result in positive outcomes for my students. This is by far the best class I have ever taken"

Leah Griggs

Proportional Reasoning in the Middle Grades with Jean Sequeira

"This course was the perfect way to start my summer, it was great to engage in conversation with teachers from other districts and push myself to be thinking differently about how I teach and use proportionality in my life"

Ashley Dubois

The Inspired Educator, The Inspired Learner with Jen Stanchfield

"I am feeling excited and inspired, within the 1st month ive already tried several activities from the class and resources that the instructor provided. It is so refreshing to leave a workshop not only wanting to do something new but also feeling prepared and empowered to do it"

Christine Caprio

The Inspired Educator, The Inspired Learner – Jennifer Stanchfield

"I can not say enough about this course! It is the only course Ive ever taken that modeled best practices for education. As a student, I was engaged in meaningful, experiential learning and could use that experience to turn around and teach my students. It was engaging, research-based, and highly relevant to our work."

Instructional Leadership Toolkit: Science Strand with Deanna Bailey

"I received Inspiration and encouragement to change my teaching practices in the goal of watching students get a real and lasting meaning from science studies"

Green Mountain Writing Project – Rebecca Cardone & Doug Boardman

"I have learned so much in this course! This has been an amazing week. I feel the most important outcome for me is that I have had the opportunity to reflect on myself as a writer and this led me to think about my students and what they need to become writers."

Leah Griggs

Frame Based Professional Support & Supervision with Marty Lacasse

"Of all the professional development I have been involved in this has been the most thought provoking and the most inspirational. I am excited to implement these ideas generated by the course to my own instruction. I am also excited to help a new talented instructor to become the best he/she can be"

Mary Bell

Google Tools for Schools (GTFS) Lucie deLaBruere & Linda McSweeney

"The most important outcome of this was was becoming more familiar and comfortable with a variety pf Google Tools to incorporate immediately into my teaching and professional practice. Also witnessing what other classmates achieved gives me the confidence to try new things I wasnt ready to try before."